Beer Bloat and Then Some

I knew it - I just didn't want to acknowledge it: I'm fat ... again. Time to change this cycle ... again. I've never been thin and doubt I ever will be, as I've got a relatively muscular build under a growing layer of fat - I'm just kinda stocky, always have been. Ever since I stopped playing sports in high school its been difficult to maintain a decent weight - mostly because I like to eat and drink.

At the time of my brother's death I weighed a reasonable 190 lbs. not "thin" by any stretch of the imagination, but it was exactly what I weighed in high school as a varsity linebacker on the football team. When I stepped on the scale this morning I was up to a very unreasonable 214 lbs. and I have what some people not-so-affectionately call "beer boobs."

I've been on something of a food and drink binge lately packing on the last ten pounds over an eight week period. So its time to change a few things. 18 months of self-pity, depression, inactivity, and booze have led me to this point so I gotta unload a few bags of luggage.

I'm self-imposing a moratorium on booze sans red wine for at least two weeks. A consistent running schedule starts today. Additionally, I gotta get to the gym for weight training and extra cardio workouts. I gotta get off of the damn couch and walk more - I commit to walking the dogs every evening - its good for them and me. Drink more water.

My goals:
8 lbs. in two weeks, sounds like a lot but its not. The first week I'll probably drop 5 lbs. just because I lose weight so quickly on the front end and some of it will be water weight. The second week I'll probably "only" lose around 3 lbs. Total 8 lbs.

From there I want to lose 10-12 lbs. over the next 4 weeks, giving me a total loss of 18-20 lbs. over a 6 week period - that's only a little over 3 lbs. per week - very doable.

At this point I should be around 195 lbs. and the weight loss is going to slow down, probably to a pace of about 2 lbs. per week or less. But I hope to end the summer as close to 180 lbs. as possible which is right about where I should be. I really can't weigh less than 175 lbs. unless I wanted to get down to 5 % body fat - which I don't.

It starts today, right now - I'm off for a jog.